September 17, 2011

"Another entire cable was devoted to the shocking Roatan McNab-Anderson-Moore case in which the American citizens' caretaker was forcibly removed in handcuffs from their house by police while they were in the US. When they returned to Honduras a few days later, they were forced by a judge and police to remove their personal belongings from their home in two hours and they found others already living in it! Ambassador Palmer thought this case would be a test of the resolve of the Honduran government in the area of investor rights. Can anyone tell me how that case ended up or is this something that we shouldn't discuss?"

I was happy to receive a response from Jean Moore, the American citizen mentioned in the Wikileaks cable. She asked me to post her summary of events since that time, so here you go.

From Jean Moore:

For those of you who are wondering about the rest of the story...here is the short version; I don't think I'll live long enough for the long version!

For a long while after out traumatic illegal eviction, the government and the court system refused to assist. A year of networking, embassy visits, faxes to President Maduro resulted in nada. The embassy had a great team in place at the time and I knew they were working hard for us. I was told that there were 160 cases similar to ours on the books. Ours vaulted to #1 because it was the most egregious. Two things happened in our favor.

One day, on one of my trips from Miami to Tegucigalpa, I was told that President Maduro was on board. I introduced myself and was invited to sit with him. He told me that he already knew who I was and wanted to hear my story. I felt this encounter put a"face" on the situation. Soon after, Honduras lost their right to sell shrimp to the U.S. At that time the shrimping industry was the main livelihood of Roatán. The island was losing millions and the "powers that be" descended on the U.S Embassy begging for help.

Ambassador Palmer refused to help until Honduras was willing to help the "Moores get their house and land back ". Well, things started happening: our court case went straight to the Supreme Court. It took about 1 year...that's quick for Honduras. We were given our home back (somewhat destroyed) . It took a couple years for us to overcome the trauma and slowly move back in.

Along the way, all the legal minds had told us that a false inheritance suit was needed to undermine all claims to the 17 acre piece owned by various gringos...unfortunately, we were the only ones with a house on our lot. By the way, in 1991 Paya Bay was taken from the rightful owners due to this inheritance claim. All of us got together and filed suit in 2000. In the past two years, we have won at the Roatán and La Ceiba level. We are waiting to see what's next.

For 16 years, we have been harassed with nuisance lawsuits, lies and defamation on the internet, endless surveying of the land, physical snooping, and trespassing at our house....the list goes on.

So this is the short version and to those of you with similar problems, here's my advice: If you have the fortitude: perseverance is mandatory and hopefully a little luck. I believe you reap what you sow. I just want to see it in my lifetime.

Welcome to my Blogicito — spanglish for 'little blog'. I am a US expatriate who has been living here in La Ceiba, Honduras, with my Catracho husband since 2001 and blogging about Honduras and my expatriate life since 2006.

The Blogicito includes a wide variety of topics from everyday life to cultural differences to Honduran politics and corruption. One way to find what you are looking for is to browse the 'Topics' list or the monthly lists of articles under 'La Gringa's archives' below. Looking for something more specific? Use the search box at the upper left (for complete articles) or the Google blog search below (for a list of summaries — usually more manageable).